Notes and Quotes

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Opening Scene
  • Close up of person holding neclace
  • Pan shot following water body as we see reflections
  • Walks up cobblestone path on hill until he hears church bells at the top
  • Very dark scene, except for one door under lantern
    • One place he has not tried to ask to sleep
  • Church bells + water = baptism

Fontine
  • Nervously watches the inspector when he enters factory
  • Has a child out of wedlock, but not a prostitute
  • "How can I work and feed her [my child]. I have to lie"
  • "Don't punish her [child] for my sin"
  • She "still has a bed" - women of the time had to either starve or turn to prostitution
    • Sells her possessions, hair, and teeth

Jean Val Jean
  • Served 19 years hard labor for stealing food
  • "Men can be unjust" "Hah! Men, not god"
    • Feels god been unfair to him
  • Promises will be new man in the morning, but tires to betray the Bishop who helped him
  • Is the force behind everything, humble, not ambitious, but still successful
    • Lives in house "barely nicer than a worker's"
  • When inspector arrives, he is too consumed by own safety to worry about Fontine

BIshop
  • Gives Jean vol Jean some silver and instructs him not to forget promise, even though he didn't deserve silver
  • "These men [the soldiers] must be thirsty" for wine, or for blood and vengeance
  • Bough Jean Val Jean's soul with silver, now it is "back to god" "you no longer belong to evil"
    • He has been recalled to life

Inspector Javert
  • Like Madame Defarge, but more complex, you get what you deserve
  • "I'd like you to follow procedure" he says when offered food after arriving
  • Says Paris is filthy and rampant with crime, Vizille much nicer state
  • Inhales opium in secret

Setting Notes
  • Opening scene is very dark except lantern
  • Factory is gray
  • Labor camp is also gray

Relation to ATOTC
  • "I suppose we'll just have to trust each other" the bishop says to jean val jean
  • Society structured not to forgive, who hires criminals? Cycle of 'justice' and crime because no choice
    • Work camps kick people while they are down, literally
  • People are afraid, which leads to hate, the enemy of all people
  • Make a difference by forgiving those who don't deserve forgiveness
  • People are frequently too consumed by own interests to think of others
  • Mirror Characters: Jean Val Jean and Fontine